


What about the dogs?

by PsychVamp



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Awkward Conversations, Crush at First Sight, Dog fic, F/M, Fluff, SO MUCH FLUFF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:14:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23308192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PsychVamp/pseuds/PsychVamp
Summary: Gendry gets a puppy and the chaos that ensues might just lead him to the woman he belongs with
Relationships: Arya Stark/Gendry Waters
Comments: 46
Kudos: 171





	What about the dogs?

**Author's Note:**

> This is absolute crack, fluff and I hope it brings you some joyful moments in these hard times. I did not really edit this too much, so let me know if didn't make sense and I can fix it.
> 
> Enjoy!!

Gendry had always known that getting a dog would be a lot of work, he just wasn’t prepared for just how much work this particular dog was going to be. When he first got Bob, he was 9 weeks old, and he had bought him out of the back of a truck outside the Walmart. The man had been chilling in the parking lot waiting for the only shelter their county had to open, apparently he was early. Gendry had originally started up a conversation when he heard the little yips and wondered at what it was. The man was nice and explained that a stray had gotten into his yard and gotten his dog pregnant, he was planning to have her spayed as soon as he had the money. One puppy in particular kept nipping at Gendry’s hand, demanding his attention whenever it would waver. The man gave him the puppy on the spot, refusing Gendry’s attempt at cash and claiming it would just mean the shelter had one less little creature to deal with.

Gendry had immediately run back into the store, buying food, a dog bed, saucers, puppy pads, a collar, leash, and a few toys. The cashier gave him an odd look, having just seen him not twenty minutes before, and considering now he looked like he had half the pet aisle in his chart, he was not surprised. 

He called off work for the day, taking a rare sick day, and devoting the whole day, and following weekend, to reading up about puppies on the internet. There were a few accidents over the next few days but eventually, he thought he was getting the hang of it. Except, he still hadn’t picked a name, just calling it ‘pup’, but he did need to think of something.

First thing Monday he called the vet, setting up an appointment for a check-up and vaccinations. After the vet appointment, where everything came back healthy and he had been properly set on the first set up vaccinations, he decided to bring his new puppy by the shop before taking him home for his afternoon shift. 

Anguy was the first to notice him and fawned over the little thing, refusing to let Beric or Thoros hold it. Which the older men thought to be hilarious and joked that Gendry wasn’t getting his puppy back anytime soon.

A few months went on and the puppy became their office dog, spending the day sleeping in the office and greeting customers. The problem was that Gendry still hadn’t picked a name, he had tried all kinds of names from classic names, like Spot, or human names, like Trevor, but nothing seemed right for his husky. 

When the pup was around 4 months old he started doing some humping behavior, which had prompted Gendry to comment that it reminded him of his father, humping anything in sight.

“That is good old Bob Baratheon for you.” Thoros jokes, having known his father when both were younger.

“Alright then Bob, what do you say we get you fixed yeah?” Gendry said, causing the puppy’s ears to prop up and he knew the name was going to stick. Good thing his Father would never actually find out about it, as they spoke once twice a year, on their birthdays.

The vet sympathized but said they had a strict policy of waiting until the puppy was at least 6 months old before neutering, and they set up an appointment for three months from now. The earliest they had available for non-emergency surgery.

He sighed at the thought of having to deal with a humping puppy for three months but he didn’t see he had much choice. It was an issue with leaving in a small town, only one vet for the area, meant longer wait times. He didn’t really mind Acorn Hill, having stumbled upon the town on accident while doing a drive about when he turned 18. He didn’t have the money for school and he refused to take Robert’s charity, especially when he had no idea what to do with his life anyway. Acorn Hill had been a pit stop for an oil change, after talking with Anguy while he worked on the car, he had gone out for drinks at town’s only bar, and had never left. Acorn Hill was little more than a drive by town, its main name to fame being an old castle that attracts tourists and the surrounding wildlife preserve. 

He was 25 now, and he could see a reason to hate that decision, but the longer that Bob kept humping people, the more he’d wished he had tried calling vets in other areas to see if they would take him. 

Gendry lived on the edge of town and the back of his yard ran right up to the edge of the wildlife preserve. He bought the little two story farmhouse 3 years earlier, after deciding that he could no longer stand living for the cheap with Anguy. He had been slowly building it up and he was sure it was rather perfect. What he hadn’t gotten around to yet was fencing in the yard, instead what he had was a 40 foot long line that gave Bob all the freedom he could need in the large open space. Gendry was good at making sure that whenever Bob went out, so did he, usually using the time for some yard work or just to relax, throwing a ball or other toy for the pup to chase. 

He cursed himself for not paying more attention, he had simply gone inside to answer his ringing phone. It was his uncle, once again asking him to come back to King’s Landing and take a place at the family company. He refused and turned to walk back outside, his uncle still talking in his ear when he saw it. A dog, no a wolf, or maybe a dog/wolf hybrid, was in the yard with Bob, and they weren’t fighting, no, they were doing something much worse. He hung up on his uncle without a word and ran out into the yard. It startled both animals and the she-wolf ran off into the woods, Bob barked after her but she didn’t even look back.

He looked down at his pup, who had grown to three times the size he had been when he had first got him. He sighed, “That neutering cannot come soon enough.”

He noticed the she-wolf come back a few times after that, searching the yard for Bob, but Gendry hadn’t left him out of his sight after the incident. 

The appointment was two weeks later and went off without a hitch. He had assumed that would be the end of it, even if the she-wolf did keep returning. Bob still seemed interested in the animal as well, but Gendry was hesitant about letting them play together. He wasn’t completely sure that the animal was wild, it had what appeared to be a collar and Gendry confirmed this when she finally let him pet her. He turned the tag over in his hand, it had read Nymeria and then had a number to call for the owner. He had quickly taken a picture of it and left the dogs to their play as he dialed the number.

It rang four times before it was picked up, “Hello?”

The young, feminane voice threw him for a moment, “Hmmmm, hi. Is this Nymeria’s owner?”

“Yes, why?” She asked, and he could hear the confusion in her voice.

“She is just in my yard. Playing with my dog. I wanted to make sure you weren’t worried about her.” He said quickly, hating his inability to talk to people, which is why he left that up to Anguy, Beric, and Thoros. He should have just sent her a text, that would have been easier.

She sighed, “She keeps slipping the leash and jumping the fence. I am sorry if she is bothering you. Text me your address and I’ll come pick her up.”

He did that just that and he didn’t even really get a chance to see her. Nymeria seemed to recognize the sound of her truck and as soon as it was stopped the she-wolf had jumped into the bed. He saw a glimpse of brown hair but nothing else before the truck drove off again. He looked down at his puppy, “Think that will be the last we see of her Bob?”

He barked in return and Gendry laughed before going inside to start on dinner.

Two weeks later and he heard the rumble of a truck pull up outside, he was sitting in front of his fireplace with a book. The weather had turned cool the last few days, previewing the probability of some fall storms on the way. A rapid knocking began and he sighed as Bob started to bark at the noise, rushing toward the door.

He got a tight grip on the collar before he opened the door, revealing a short young woman with brown hair tied into a braid and steel grey eyes glaring at him. He took a gulp, “Can…..can I help you?”

A barking made him look behind her, Nymeria was in the cab of the truck.

“My dog is pregnant.” She snarled. 

The surprise almost made him lose his grip on Bob, who had also noticed Nymeria’s presence nearby and was eager to get to her. Gendry sighed, “Would you like to come inside?”

The girl huffed back to the truck without a word and let Nymeria out, who instantly ran up to him and Bob. Gendry released the collar and the two animals raced into the house. She walked back up to him and waited for him to move aside.

“I’m Gendry by the way.” He said as they walked to the living room. The dogs had made themselves comfortable by playing with Bob’s collection of toys.

“Arya.” She replied shortly and then crossed her arms over her chest, “Nymeria is pregnant and I want to know if your dog is the responsible party.”

He rubbed a hand over his neck, being yelled at by a beautiful woman was not what he had in mind for his day off, “Possibly, I did catch them in the act.”

“You don’t have your dog neutered?” She asked.

“The vet won’t do it until the dog is at least six months, and then there was a waiting list. He is neutered now.” He protested, pointing to his pup as if that proved it.

“Too little, too late it would seem.”

He frowned and said, “Hey, this isn’t all my fault. Nymeria clearly isn’t spayed if she is pregnant!”

Arya looked away from him, “I thought she was. The person I got her from assured me they had already done all that, but when she started acting weird I took her into the vet and they told me that wasn’t the case.” She sighed and her anger seemed to dissipate, “Now I’m going to have to deal with a whole litter of puppies just because I didn’t bother to double check.”

“If….” He paused, this was a literal stranger and he was not good with most people, but he continued, “If you need help with it, they are half my puppies too….I guess?” He shook his head, “That didn’t come out right. What I meant was..”

Arya giggled and the sound startled him into silence. She gave him a smile and he felt his heart stop. He had never believed in love at first sight, even lust at first sight was something he had never experienced, but this is what he imagined it would seem like. Her smile warmed something inside him and he felt himself automatically return it.

“I would actually appreciate it. I just moved to town a month ago and I don’t know how I’m going to juggle my job, Nymeria, and a litter of puppies by myself.”

“Where do you work?” He asked, not having seen her at the bar or the diner before.

“I am a park ranger. I just got assigned to work on the reserve.”

He nodded, “Taking over for Willard?”

“How did you know?” She asked, cocking her head.

“He was talking about how he was finally retiring and moving to Sunspear to be close to his grandkids last time I saw him at the diner.” Gendry explained, “Or, I should say I overheard.”

She smirked at him, “Eavesdrop a lot while eating at the diner do you?”

He nodded, “I am not….sociable. I go there with my coworkers for lunch or dinner sometimes, they talk to the other members of our society and just sit there in silence.”

She laughed, and it was a sound that he wanted to hear everyday for the rest of his life, but that would be the wrong thing to tell a woman he had just met.

“I think you are doing a fine job, being sociable.” She responded, “Maybe you don’t give yourself enough credit.”

He shook his head, “A shock to everyone I assure you.”

“Where do you work?”

“The mechanic shop.” 

“I guess I can trust you not to overcharge me then when I come in for my next oil change.” She teased, and he wasn’t sure if she was flirting, or if this was just her personality.

“You need more than an oil change.” He said without thinking.

She shrugged, “Guess you will have to look under the hood and see.” Her eyes flicked back to the dogs, “Back to the topic at hand. Gestation is 58-68 days, so, assuming she got pregnant four weeks ago, that gives another five or so before they are here. We should start preparing.”

He looked over to the clock that sat on the mantle, and took a deep breath, “Want to stay for dinner? We can figure out all the logistics that way.”

She seemed taken back by the offer and her hesitation made him think he had taken this all too far but then she nodded, “Okay. I’d like that.”

He smiled, “I hope you like spaghetti.”

“I love it.” She replied and followed him into the kitchen, both dogs at her feet. She put one hand on each and said, “I never did learn your name handsome.”

He turned quickly and noticed she was clearly talking to the dog, he shook his head and said, “Bob.”

Her grey eyes peaked up at her, “Bob? Really?”

He blushed and looked away, pulling out the meatballs he’d made earlier from the fridge, “It is a long story.”

“Guess I can hear that story while you cook.” She replied and took a seat at the table, smirking at him.

He pulled at the pots from the cupboard, hiding his face and couldn’t help but think, he was in a lot of trouble here, the best kind of trouble.

**Author's Note:**

> Don’t forget to let me know what you think! I always love hearing your thoughts.


End file.
